Swarm
by GBJosh
Summary: Tiny is told by a villager one day, that a fortuneteller is visiting town. He sees her with his friend, Gaston. He insults the gypsy and she lays a curse on the town. The animals find themselves resorting to their primitive instincts just to stay alive.
1. Chapter 1

**Chronicles of Elm St: **_**Swarm**_

It was a normal day in Elm St, the town hall was buzzing with activity, the museum was packed with tourists and villagers alike, and I was running around town, trying to do an errand for one of my fellow neighbors.

I'm Tiny; I've lived in the small, country side town, Elm St. for two years now. I've made many friends since I first moved here.

Gaston, he's my best friend of all, he lives right below Tom Nook's shop and The Able Sisters. He isn't great at making first impressions because he comes off as abrasive and anti-social, but once you get to know him, he can be really cool and sometimes a bit sappy.

Then there's Bob, he's the mellowest guy you'll ever meet! Everyone likes Bob; even though sometimes his laid-back personality can get him into trouble. He lives really close to the beach, I always see him asleep there amongst the rushing and receding lull of the ocean's waves.

Alli is Elm St's gossip queen; she always knows all the personal stuff about everyone in town. Her vain and conceited attitude doesn't sit well with the animals sometimes, but everyone respects her for her honesty, no matter how brutal. She lives in the very north-western tip of Elm St, behind town hall.

Lily's next. She's the most kind, and sweetest girl in our entire town! She gets along great with everyone, but Bob. Lily lives right beside Gaston.

Kid Cat! He is crazy when it comes to working out—he lives and breathes it! When he's not pumping iron, he's usually making someone laugh whether it is intentional or totally accidental. Kid Cat lives in the south-western tip of Elm St, right above the beach.

Kabuki is pretty moody and at times a lot like Gaston—both of them get along great. Kabuki seems to have a way with the ladies, though; charisma seems to ooze through his fur and big, golden eyes. If you follow the river from Lily's down, you'll see Kabuki's place.

Agent S is the next villager and she's Elm St's little diva! She's so cute and silly, but you wouldn't want to get on her bad side because she can be pretty catty. Agent S lives between Bob and Kid Cat, and below Aurora.

Speaking of Aurora, she's our final resident. She's the newest resident and doesn't seem to fit in as well. She moved in the town a few months ago, and all attempts I make to bond with her she seems to brush off.

*

This morning I woke up to the noise of cicadas screeching through my window. I went outside, and saw Aurora sitting next to the teeny holding pond besides my house with a fishing rod in flipper.

"Hey Aurora! Whatcha doing?" I called, waving from the front of my house.

I got no response; it looked like she was deep in thought. Then I noticed the "ting… ting" noise that my mailbox makes when there's new mail in it. Clearing Aurora from my mind, I opened the red flap, and saw three letters. There was, one from Agent S, one from Crazy Redd, and one from Kabuki. I knew what Crazy Redd's said, the new password this week for his rip-off shack—junk mail!

Then I read Agent S'… it said:

_My little Tiny!_

_I'm having a big birthday bash on July 2__nd__! _

_You being my biggest, BEST-EST friend, like, ever_

_SO needs to come! It'll be super-duper fun! _

_Just 'member to bring a gift for the birthday girl! A.K.A. ME!_

_Xox, Please come! Agent S!_

I laughed to myself, but made a mental note to pick Agent S up the perfect gift, I shoved the invitation into my back pocket. Then I went onto Kabuki's letter. His read:

_Tiny!_

_I really need your help!_

_Trust me, it's very important… get down_

_To my house now… OR ELSE!_

_Seriously… Kabuki._

Reading the brief and very uninformative letter a second time, I put it in my pocket, along with the other, and ran down to Kabuki's house immediately. On my way there, I saw Bob standing below a peach tree, with a giant stick, trying to poke down a snack. I waved at him quickly and continued on—he really didn't seem to notice me, too immersed in his hunger.

I peered through Kabuki's window, but couldn't see a thing. I tried knocking, once, twice, trice—I didn't hear or see him. I jiggled the doorknob and the door popped open.

"Tiny! Come over here, behind the screen," ordered Kabuki, his voice a cavity-less specter. "Make haste!"

I walked in further, my head swiveling from side-to-side atop my shoulders with fascinated gradualness. I always loved Kabuki's house because it was filled with stuff from his past, like old family heirlooms that his father and mother passed onto him. There was this amazing sharp, but beautiful white katana his father owned as a child, and a full samurai suit his great, great, great grandfather once owned. I sat on the mat he had laid out behind the screen; he had a gift put at the tea table between us.

"Sit, Tiny," he said quietly, but you could sense the urgency as well, his eyes looking up at me and darting through the meager candle-light which made his room glow dimly.

"What's wrong, Kabuki?" I asked. "I got down here as fast as I could, are you all right?"

He looked up at me from his mat, and gestured me to sit. I sat down, not wanting to upset him—knowing how easy it was to do so.

"See the present on the table, Tiny? This present is for... a special someone…" Kabuki trailed off, he began to blush.

"OK? So you sent me a letter, told me there was an emergency, and all you want to do is show me this present?"

"No, you idiot!" he cried, "I want you to deliver this present to someone, I'm way too nervous to do it myself, I'm afraid she'll laugh at me…"

"Oh… I'm sorry. I can do it for you. Who is it that you want me to give it to? Phyllis? Celeste?" I asked thinking of Kabuki's past infatuations.

"No… it's for Alli," Kabuki said and paused. "I really like her, so I bought her this shirt, and just in case she hates it, I want you to be there, not me." The subtle pinkness of his cheeks intensified and spread to his nose.

I took the carefully wrapped present into my hands. "Sure, I'll come back and tell you how it goes, OK?"

Kabuki nodded solemnly, probably trying to regain his dignity after being too afraid to face a girl. I closed Kabuki's door behind me and sighed. I started walking toward Alli's house, nearly on the other side of the town. I looked up at the peach tree Bob was prodding, and then down at the sleeping, purple cat, he had bits of peach caked into his mouth.

Before I got to Alli's, I saw her talking to Kid Cat by the town hall entrance, I walked over, and they stopped talking abruptly.

"Oh, my God! Tiny!" Alli squealed running toward me. She gave me a big hug, it kind of hurt, Alli being an alligator, was strong, stronger then she knew.

"Kid Cat! Go away, me and Tiny are talking, I don't need you to amuse me anymore!" Alli demanded, not even giving him a glance.

Kid Cat looked hurt. He rolled his eyes and went into the town hall.

"Some people just don't know when they aren't wanted, huh, Tiny?" Alli said, smiling, "So, what did you want from me?"

I took the present from behind my back, and held it in front of Alli.

"It's a present to you, from someone, not me, though!" I told her as she snatched it from my hands.

Alli's eyes were shining brightly as she tore off the wrapping! When she got down to the cardboard box it was in, she ripped it open and there was some sort of shirt inside.

"Oh… my… GOD! This cannot be the hottest design of the season… is it? It's Gracie's hottest selling pattern! The cow shirt! Wow… people must love me even more than I know! Can you guess how much this thing is to buy?!" Alli screamed ecstatically.

I shrugged my shoulders, as she was eyeing me as if expecting a response.

"Ohhhhh, Tiny! Thank you so much for delivering this to me! I'll give you some hot gossip, OK? Well… tonight this girl, Katrina, is coming to Elm St. She's a world famous fortuneteller and her predictions are always accurate! It only costs a measly 100 bells to get it done, it's totally worth it!"

"Really? It sounds cool, are you going?" I asked Alli somewhat dully—I hadn't heard anyone else talking about it.

"Of course, darling!" she said plainly. "Anyway, I have to go try this thing on, I'll look so hot! Actually, I am going to wear it tonight to Katrina's!"—her eyes were set upon me again, as if I should agree or disagree with her. I nodded dully, and she lit up—"Ta ta, Tiny!"

Before her departure, she blew a kiss to me as she walked behind the town hall and to her place.

**Later that day…**

I told Kabuki that his gift with Alli was a complete success, but it was pretty dumb of him to intentionally leave out who it was from. Also, I decided to ask Gaston if he wanted to go to Katrina's with me, she wasn't there yet, but Alli said she would be very soon and already I had seen animals running from their houses and making their way to the plaza—their tones hushed but thrilled.

As I was walking to Gaston's, I saw a humongous spider jump out behind Lily's house. I staggered backward, and the thing ran behind Lily's, to Nook's. It was the first time in all my life in Elm St, that I ever saw something like that.

Dismissing the sighting as nothing, while urged from the growing yet distant murmurs of animals at the town hall, I sped off to my friend's house. Gaston's lights were on. I looked in one of the windows, and saw him sitting down, eating. Knowing Gaston would do the same, I just walked in without knocking.

"AHH! Tiny! Who do you think you are coming in without knocking? You made me spill my miso soup!" Gaston yelled as his soup dripped off his moustache and into a puddle on his lap.

"Sorry, dude. I came to ask you if you want to go see a fortuneteller with me. Alli said she's world famous and very, very accurate with her readings."

"Tiny, you can't be serious!" Gaston laughed, slapping down the half-empty bowl of soup, "You actually believe that garbage! It's all fake, a big scam so idiots can steal your money! Well Tiny, I'm no sucker, you can count me out!"

"Hmmm, not even for 5,000 Bells, Gaston?" I taunted. "You know how much you need money to save up for the new electrical chair at Nook's."

Gaston paused then began grinding his teeth.

"Oh, FINE! I'll go! Don't expect me to believe anything that freak says! Or spend any of my precious Bells there!" Gaston roared, upsetting the bowl of soup on his lap, its contents spilling out over the edge.

Gaston and I walked a little ways to the town hall. There was a big crowd there; it looked like everyone in town was lined up. Gaston and I got in line behind Lily. The line did move pretty quickly, and before Lily's turn she turned around to talk to us.

"Oh, I'm so nervous!" Lily cried, "I wonder what she'll say to me… I hope it's not bad."

Gaston rolled his eyes. "Lily, it's a scam! None of it is real; she probably says the same thing to every gullible sap that goes in there!"

Tortimer sluggishly crept out of the tent and then boomed a voice that said, "Next!"

Lily gulped and then entered the tent. The purple curtain drew shut behind her. Within a minute or so, Lily walked out of the tent, and looked completely puzzled. Then, again boomed the voice. Gaston and I both went inside. There, sitting on the other side of a small table, was a black, gypsy cat, with large, eerie, golden eyes.

"Ahh… the skeptical one…" Katrina purred. Her mysterious eyes darting toward Gaston. "Come, have a seat, I will give you your fortune, no fee necessary."

Her voice carried a concealed, venomous tone which shot goose bumps up my arms.

"HA!" Gaston snickered. "I'm no moron! Go try to fool some other animal!"

"Fool you I not. I suppose, if you are too much of a coward to let me read you a simple fortune, then leave my tent at once," she snapped at Gaston.

"WHAT?!" Gaston roared! "No one calls me a coward, and NO ONE tells me what to do! Why don't you just run on home to your circus, you freak!"

Suddenly, a strong wind whipped through the tent, it stung my face. I grabbed Gaston's shirt and told him to stop, he didn't know what he was doing, but he pushed me away.

"No one speaks ill of Katrina! I can lay a curse on this village that will haunt every soul in it! Just say one more thing, one more thing and you will regret it dearly!" she threat.

"Oh yeah?" Gaston grinned. "You are a phony thief, and a worthless, waste of my time!"

"You've done it now!" Katrina hissed. "You will suffer for your arrogance!"

Her eyes gleamed a deep red, her claws stuck out from her paws, as she scraped them along her crystal ball. Katrina began to chant, at first it was quiet, but it led into a fevered pitch. Everything in the tent seemed to shutter; her cards flew in every direction. I grabbed Gaston's hand and started to run out.

"KREEEEEEE HA!" Katrina howled, the noise so shrill it rattled my ears.

Thinking purely on instinct, I snatched Gaston's clenched and clammy paw then I dove out of the tent and onto the hard town hall pavement—pulling Gaston along the entire time.

Every animal stood around us in awe. Kid Cat burst through the crowd with his hero face on—his eyes narrowed beneath the tint of his visor and his lips convoluted in mid-war cry. Lunging over and around animals he darted through the curtains of the fortuneteller's tent. Katrina sat there, lifeless, her body draped across the table. He roughly took her by the arm and she suddenly sprung up, the metallic jangle of her pendants, bangles and bracelets clanging sharply. She hissed deeply and loosed her claw toward Kid Cat. He staggered out of the way, but stumbled on a pile of junk thrown into the tent's corner. With a throaty howl and her eyes burning demonically, she leapt from her stool and slashed Kid Cat across the chest—blood shedding immediately and falling to his feet.

He yelped in pain, and as soon as he let go of Katrina's arm, she vanished from tent; a mass of obscure, purpled clouds filling the inside to the point where it burst past her curtains and to the night sky.


	2. Chapter 2

**The Next Morning…**

I woke up in a daze and yet again with the sounds of cicadas screeching. I lay in bed for a while, wondering if that night actually happened; it all seemed too surreal. How did I even end up in my bed? Had I passed out? I didn't know, but my head throbbed with a vengeful headache. I put my head back down to rest, the downy gentleness of my pillow putting me in a weak lull, until I heard a hollow 'thud!' against the window just above me. Kneeling over my bed post, I opened the window up, allowing the summer breeze to tickle my face. Craning my neck out the window further, I saw in the grass below my window was a huge—the biggest I've ever seen—banded dragonfly. Throwing on a shirt, I scurried outside. Being as gentle as possible, I picked the insect up. Its wings and eyes both looked tattered and broken-off, while its thorax slouched as if it were to crack in half soon. It was bigger then my hand and I was surprised it didn't break the glass from its immense size.

It then perked right up, beginning to fly in the same spot right above my hand. I put my face really close in fascination—knowing even a dragonfly of this size was virtually harmless. It darted away after that, as fast as could be leaving me with my palm opened still in a state of morning grogginess. When I opened the door to go back into my house, I heard a faint buzzing. Pulling my hand from the doorknob as the noise approached, I looked around me. Then something hit me hard in the face so hard, I had to catch myself on the side my house. Rubbing the spot where I was hit, my fingers caught something. Unlatching it from my cheek, it was a detached yet spasmodic dragonfly leg. Twisting my mouth in disgust I threw the leg on the ground below me, only to see the same banded dragonfly as before lay motionless.

"What the…?" I said, baffled.

Bending down to pick up the thing up again, it started flying at my face over and over and over again; the feel of its wispy body and wings against my face irritating. When I started swatting it, the dragonfly flew again. Half excepting a third attack, I shielded my face, but the premeditative buzz did not return—it had dissipated into the blue sky and the frothy clouds which were strewn throughout it.

Running my hands soothingly against my face, right away, I started toward Gaston's house. Before I got there, Lily was sitting down outside crying. I sat down in the garden next to her.

"What's the matter, Lily?" I asked sincerely, propping myself against her house.

She looked up at me, tears rolling down her face. She started choking them back and attempted to talk.

"W – Wel. Well," stammered Lily struggling still with the tears. "This morning I woke up and opened the window right next to my bed. I took a dip in my indoor pool, like I do every morning. It was about 6 am, I know it's early, but I love waking with the birds. I went to go make my bed, you know, in case I had unexpected company…"

She sobbed and clutched her right arm; blood was oozing out around her tiny, pastel-green hands.

"I – I – I felt something heavy in between the sheets and when I lifted it up—like a rock or something. I jiggled the sheets between my hands, but it was stubborn and it didn't budge from my blankets no matter how much I tugged. I sprawled it across my bed and unfolded it… and a giant stag beetle was there! It opened up its pincers and started to thrash. I backed up, and screamed a little—this thing was half the size of my head! Next thing I knew its wings shot out and it charged at me, and… it… oh it hurt so much!" she bawled, forcing right arm towards me; her skin pale around the cut from her hand constricting the blood. As if someone had ripped a chunk of flesh from her arm, a huge gouge had dug into her skin; fresh blood streaming from it and old blood crusted around the outskirts.

"Oh, my God!" I yelled, loosing my balance slightly. "Have you told anyone? That should be treated for an infection right away, Lily!"

"It hurts too much to move a lot… so I've just been sitting here hoping for someone else to come," Lily uttered. "I was pouring cold water on it too… it numbs it just a little."

I stood up and told Lily to stay there while I got her some help. Scampering into Nookingtons, I bought some medicine from Nook and told him to come take a look at Lily's cut. I led him a little ways down to the river, where Lily's house was. Once there, I opened up the medicine for Lily and handed it to her. Nook told her the recommended amount and that she needed rest, also not to put any pressure on that arm. Once Lily was safely in her bed with all the windows in her house bolted, I remembered Gaston and went next door to talk to him.

The inside looked motionless. I knocked, thinking back to Gaston's outburst when I had just walked in. Waiting for several minutes without an answer, I tried to open it, but Gaston had locked it. Wondering where he could've gone off to, I went looking around the village. I checked the museum, coffee shop and town hall—all without finding him.

When I went up toward Alli's house, I heard a bloodcurdling scream coming from inside; it echoed around the opened corner of the town repeatedly as if its owner's yelling was unrelenting. Bursting through Alli's door, dozens and dozens of moths flew past me to the outside, their mundane colors and their chalky wings filling my face one second and leaving the next, a dingy taste of grit lingering in my mouth.

Surrounding Alli were hundreds of moths and through the impenetrable wall of them I saw she was holding something, but I couldn't pick out what it was. I ran to her and fumblingly embraced the swarm, swatting away many moths with curled fists. I plunged my hands into the flock as they charged my face, finding Alli's hand within seconds of mine flailing.

"C'mon!" I roared loudly over the generic flapping of their tiny, powdered wings.

Once outside the infested house I slammed the door shut and stood in her garden. She was crying uncontrollably. Make-up and tears streaming everywhere while her limbs trembled with a mutual feeling of rage and fear.

I asked her what was wrong. She stood there trying to stop crying for a few seconds and after taking an over-the-top breath she began to explain to me.

"Well, when I woke up this morning, I found shreds of my bedspread all around me, but I didn't really think anything of it… I was in desperate need of a new one anyway," Alli said pausing to wipe blotchy mascara from her eye. "Eager about my little present you delivered yesterday, I opened my regal wardrobe where I had put it to wear tomorrow, for Katrina's reading"—she pounded her foot in the garden crushing a by standing cosmo—"Well. All those gross little moths exploded from it and started flying around my room! I have no clue how they even got in there; I have never seen so many of the things in my life! Looking inside my wardrobe, where I had my fabulous cow shirt hung—it was eaten; completely ruined by those hideous bugs! My fabulous and exotic AND pricy Gracie original was mere strips of patterned fabric at the bottom of my wardrobe!"—her eyes were coated by premature tears now—"Along with that, they ate all the other outfits! They tore through all my clothes! …AAAAH!!!" she bawled in anger, covering her eyes. "This is out of control! Stupid Tortimer, he's mayor and should do something about this! Spray the entire town in pesticide for all I care, just kill those stupid things!" she roared furiously, knotting her fingers together.

I tried to stop her, but she marched down to the town hall. I sighed to myself and looked again into Alli's house; still many moths were perched all over her things, but the majority was in a huge ball in the center of her room.

I continued my search for Gaston. Heading down toward the bottom of town, I saw Agent S outside watering her garden.

"Why hey my little, Tiny!" Agent S peeped, sloshing the water in her can everywhere. "C'mere for a sec, will ya?"

I walked over to her, being cautious not to trample any of her flowers. "What's up, Agent S?"

"I was just wondering… if you were coming to my party tomorrow. Well, what a silly question 'cos I KNOW you are! Make sure you bring a total fabulous gift for me, is all!"

I was thinking, "Oh no! Oh no!" in my head—I totally forgot about her party and her present! I was hoping I didn't look as alarmed as I felt.

"Yup, definitely, I wouldn't miss it for the world! Oh, and your gift… you'll love it, really!" I told her, smugly. I had to remember to get into Nooks to get her an awesome gift, I told her I was in a hurry and I really should be going.

Before I left she said: "Can you be a doll and do a little favor for me? Pop by Kid Cat's house and just remind that air head about my party, because after all, this is VIP, and I don't want random losers like Kabuki drifting in, yeah? Alright? OK? Thanks, Tiny, you're such a sweetheart!"

I walked off after Agent S hugged me briefly. Her house a mere feet from the beach, that's where I checked next. Past the palm trees, and closer to Bob's, I saw Gaston in the sand, staring off into the tossing and turning waves of the ocean.

"Gaston? You alright?"

He jumped in response and almost fell into the water, his backside teetering over the ocean's edge.

"Tiny, why don't you blow an air horn in my ear next time you decide to run up behind me?" He calmed himself. "Yeah, I'm fine… it's just that since Katrina went all gypsy on me… I haven't been feeling the same and Elm St. is different, too," Gaston said in a hushed tone. I sat on the ledge on the beach, I began thinking of what to say, but I felt something tapping off my foot. I peered over into the ocean; there was a note in a bottle. Through the clear glass I could see paper inside, my eyes trying to lock upon it but unsuccessful as the ocean bobbed it fiercely.

When I first noticed it, Gaston was spaced out, his eyes cast into the rocking and rolling of the waves. But as I made a strained gesture toward the water, he exclaimed highly and pushed me out of the way. Landing roughly on my shoulder, he dove for it, his paws first frantically splashing in the salty ocean waters.

"I love these things!" Gaston cried. "Especially when they come with gifts! Heh heh!"

As I was recovering from the push, he ripped the cap off the bottle and shook it until something wrapped up in paper hit the ground.

"What the…? What's this?" Gaston said with irritation in his voice while picking up the thing. He unwrapped the paper and there was some sort of 10th century talisman, with ancient Animalese written on it.

Gaston stared at the talisman in awe and started to read the paper, his pupils growing large, making blackness rule his eyes.

"Pfft!" he hissed quickly. "It's written in some old time Animalese, only some dorky bookworm like Blathers could ever understand!" Gaston crumpled up the paper and threw it into the ocean.

"No! Gaston!" I cried. "That could be important!"

I hauled out my bug catching net in a maddened panic, crouched to the ledge of the ground, and managed to nab the note, without almost falling in.

"Ahahaha! Tiny, you sucker, I would've laughed myself silly if you went head over heels into that freezing water," Gaston jeered, contorting his face.

I rolled my eyes and looked at the inscriptions on the talisman.

"Hey… Gaston? Look at this." I pointed at the center of the object. "Those words look like the same ones on Katrina's cards, and the ones written all over her tent… do you think Katrina might've sent us this?"

"Don't be so stupid, Tiny! There is no way Katrina could've guaranteed that this would reach us! That old phony is probably sitting on the side of the road now scrounging off the scraps some sap dropped from stuffing their face! She's an ignorant wench, Tiny, she doesn't have the power or mind capacity to ensure this note would reach us! This is probably from somewhere on the other side of the world!"

Not wanting to argue: "Yeah… I guess so…"

"Now c'mon you dolt, let's go back to my house for some baklava! It should be almost ready!" Gaston declared cheerfully, smiling broadly while stuffing the talisman into his back pocket.

*

It was early into the evening when Gaston and I finished the baklava, I stayed at his house a few hours, and we just hung out. While we were there, he mentioned Agent S.

"Yeah, she invited me to her party, and she was TOTALLY flirting with me! But, I still don't know if I am going to show up or not, of course, someone like me would make or break the party," Gaston said in thought and total seriousness.

Then I remembered that I still hadn't gotten her the present.

"Gaston!" I cried, "I have to go up to Nook's, and grab a present for Agent S… I have the perfect one in mind, too."

"OK, alright, Tiny, make sure it's not too pricey, I don't want you making me look like a chump; showing me up with some flashy gizmo! I am just going to give her my old shirt or something…" he trailed off.

I laughed at his absurdity and said my goodbyes.

"'Night Tiny! I'd tell you to stop by later… but I am pretty tired and would rather not have your voice ringing in my ears while I am trying to get some shut eye."

Nodding with a small smile breaking the surface of my face, I walked off.


	3. Chapter 3

On the short walk to Nook's, I peaked into Lily's window, just to see if she was up and feeling better. Her bed was on the opposite side of the room where I looked, but I saw a motionless lump occupying it. I smiled and hoped she was alright; that bite was really nasty.

From a distance I knew there was something different about Nookingtons—an unsettled difference. When I got closer I saw the lights were dimmed and there was a notice clipped onto the store's door, the paper it was written on calmly pressed against the store.

_Nookington's will be closed on July 1__st__, 5:00 pm until further notice. I am terribly sorry for any inconveniences this may cause. In the state of an emergency, my dear nephews Timmy and Tommy will run the shop. _

_~Tom Nook and staff_

"No way! Why would Nook ever close his store?!" I yelled aloud, peering around me as if there was someone in my vicinity which would give me an answer. Checking the notice for a second time, it was not written in Nook's or either of the twins' choppy handwriting.

Curiously, I looked in through the glass door regardless. I then noticed Harriet the hairdresser inside. She was closing up the Shampoodle and walking my way—maybe I could get her to let me in, pick out the gift, and leave the Bells on Nook's counter or something.

"Harriet! Harriet!" I called with my face pressed against the class, my breath fogging it up, giving my expression a dull distortion.

She looked startled and almost dropped her keys. Her eyes squinted in my direction; she didn't know who it was. After calling out a second time, she then scurried over and opened the entrance somewhat begrudgingly.

"Sugar, didn't you read the sign?" she said tapping her flashy ring-finger against the notice rapidly, the metallic green reflecting the lowering sun in my eyes. "We're closed for the night."

"Yes, I read the sign… but Agent S' birthday is tomorrow, and since that whole Katrina thing sidetracked me majorly, I haven't had a chance to get a gift!"

She scrunched her face in a mild indifference.

"C'mon, pleeeease, Harriet! I know exactly what I want to get her, it's just a matter of me running in, as quick as I can, and buying it! I'll even leave the Bells on the register for Nook to take whenever."

"It doesn't sound like it'd be a problem, hun, but I got direct orders from Nook and the twins to allow no one in the store during their absence…"

"I'll tell know one, promise! Plus, do you think Tom would ever pass up the chance on some money? No way." It seemed my convincing was working out; her grimace was slowly morphing to a smile.

"Fine, fine, you've got me convinced. Just be quick about it and leave the exact price on the register for me to ring in later, alright, sugar?" she said sternly, the smile braking.

Nodding obediently, I walked in the empty store. It was the first time that I have ever been inside without the annoying music ringing, the lights flashing and Nook and his writhing nose following me around everywhere I went.

I scanned the rows of things and was about to make my way upstairs to the furniture section, when I saw the gift I wanted. It was the newest slingshot model—the Bull's Eye 4000—it looked perfect for her. Reading the description on the package, it said you could shoot up to four pebbles at a time, four times the range of the previous model with four times the power and the elasticity was extremely durable—it's just was Agent S wanted. I picked it up and looked at the price tag—2500 Bells. That was a fair deal for such a piece of workmanship. Using the gift wrap under Nook's counter, I wrapped it up, placed it neatly in a cardboard box and left 2500 bells on Nook's cash register. Harriet hurried me from the shop and began to lock it up, her eyes urging me on as I did my bumbling wrapping job.

"See, no harm done, Harriet!" I cried innocently with the present held carefully in my two hands.

She shot me a too-close-for-comfort look and drew the sliding door across the shop. The noticed flashed in the dropping sun's light.

"Hey, Harriet, why was the shop closed? What happened to Nook?"

"My dear, Tiny, I do not know exactly what happened," she said quietly, her eyes shifting. "Well, you might as well know. I am expecting Pelly to make an announcement to the public about it anyway. While Nook was on his lunch break this afternoon he took a pear off his orchid—I saw him do it, I was chatting with Tommy while finishing off a thing of yogurt. It was a few hours later, well into the afternoon, when the poor dear came to me complaining of an agonizing stomach pain. I told him that I would run the lower floor of the shop and for him to go lie down. As the day progressed it seemed the ache was growing more and more vicious as Nook began to vomit, his speech grew shaky, and a fever seared from his skull. Timmy discovered him an hour later, unconscious. Well the three of us were so unnerved by it all we panicked! He was later rushed to Dr. Shrunk's Emergency Clinic in another town."

I was shocked. Not only by what happened to Tom, but also why no one was told of what happened. I decided to ask her, just not as bluntly as I was thinking.

"Well, sugar, Tortimer told me, the twins and the Able's not to mention it under further this evening, when he would have results from Shrunk. I suppose that old dog, Tortimer, will make an announcement some time soon… I truly hope Nook is alright because I could not stand to see the animal so miserable and the twins so shaken up."

It was ideally timed, before I even got time to process what Harriet had divulged, Pelly's gentle voice was on the PA, calling everyone to the town hall:

"_Attention, everybody! Attention! Mayor Tortimer is holding an urgent meeting at the town hall, I repeat, Mayor Tortimer is calling an urgent meeting at the town hall. Please everyone attend and be in the plaza immediately. Thank you._"

Both Harriet and I exchanged concerned looks. Almost immediately after we heard the quick snap of the tailor shop close. Mabel and Sable Able came and joined us. Awoken from her sleep, Lily then came out of her house, in a sleepy daze, and joined us as well. We walked to the town plaza in our small group, speaking briefly with the anxiousness of the meeting binding together our insides.

Besides the town hall staff, Pelly, Phyllis and Pete, we were the first group there. Brewster, Blathers and Celeste dropped in after. Soon came Alli, then Booker and Copper. Waiting for the stragglers, eventually in a group came: Agent S, Kid Cat, Kabuki and Bob. The final resident was Aurora, who tip-toed in so quietly we thought we were still waiting for her to come.

There was someone missing—I knew it—but it seemed everyone else, along with me, forgot who this mystery resident was.

Now everyone but Timmy, Timmy, Tom Nook and Tortimer were gathered in the plaza; we all anxiously awaited Tortimer to walk up to his podium and make his urgent announcement.

The door of the town hall crept open; the aging tortoise walked slowly up the collapsible stage. The eyes of the residents burning into him, it seemed he strived for a faster pace to reach podium as utter silence reigned more blatantly.

Pelly—who was before standing on the sidelines with her two pelican co-workers—quickly rushed over and adjusted the microphone to the mayor's ideal position. Afterwards, scurrying to the back of the stage along side Copper, Phyllis and Pete.

Tortimer opened his mouth, and was about to speak, but he stopped almost indecisively. Gesturing Pelly over with the thresh of his cane, she diligently poured him a glass of cool water from the pitcher under his podium then stuffed it back promptly. The water was downed in three seconds and he tried to speak again.

"Heh heh heh heh heh horrf! Nothin' like a glass of ice cold water to start your speech off!" he cried merrily, yet his hoarse voice mixed it with stress. "Hmm, yes… now… now to business!" He paused to adjust his glasses further up his nose and lick his lips. "I am sure all of you know… hmmm, what's that fellers name… ah… Thomas! I am sure you all know Thomas Nook, the raccoon with the snazzy suit and the gut? He runs the shop? Hmmm, yes, well… he was sent to Dr. Shrunk's Emergency Clinic earlier this afternoon!" Despite the dropping-the-bomb content of the meeting's opening, the mayor presented it tactlessly.

The crowd was astonished. Everyone exchanged worried glances and gossip began to erupt already through slanderous mouths and sketchy eyes. No one in our humble town was ever injured enough to be sent to an emergency room—the worst injury we'd ever seen was a mere knee scrape.

"How disastrous! Is he dead?!" called out someone in the crowd, which sounded like the dopey voice of Bob.

"No! Listen here, sprouts, Thomas certainly isn't dead…! Hmm, yes, but he is very ill, very ill indeed…" Tortimer paused yet again to lick his shriveled lips. "He ate a pear from his orchid and there were allegedly many eggs of a local, venomous, ummm, errr… arachnid a-hatchin' inside the fruit!"

Again the crowd of animals burst into feverish whispers. Lily began to tap my arm rapidly but when I would turn to face her she would say nothing; her face fixed onto the mayor and her eyes widening.

"Now listen here, youngsters, settle down! Unless you want me givin' you whippersnappers a good talkin' in manners, you kids need to get your priorities straight! Respect your elders my pappy used to say! Sure, when I was just a wee tortoise he always took out a wooden ladle and bonked me over the noodle… hmm…"

Ignoring Tortimer's rambles, the crowd was still an uproar. I looked throughout the animals, and tried to find Gaston, but I couldn't spot the rabbit anywhere. It was bizarre because there is no way he didn't hear Pelly's announcement. Before I had time to sneak from the meeting and its gravitation to chaos, I saw him in the distance. He was just passing the holding pond by my house and was gripping something in his paws.

When he reached the plaza, Tortimer noticed his late arrival amongst the entire racket.

"Hey, you! Yeah, urhmmm, you!" He held his cane across the podium and condescendingly at Gaston. "All you rebellious youngsters think you can show up for my emergency meetings late! Maybe I'd excuse being fashionably late because that's for show, y'know, stylish, tough—if you were tryin' to keep your swagger on a roll… but you've missed too much for that label, bucko! That train left the station minutes ago and you're left in its steam! The disrespect you kids show… don't the word urgent mean anything anymore?" Tortimer grumbled groggily. "When I say, emergency, I mean emergency, dammit!"

"Shut it, gramps! Don't mind me, I had something to… take care of—continue on with your story," snapped Gaston, slinking in amongst the animals in the plaza.

"How rude!" Tortimer started in, but his raspy voice trailed off into nothing but senseless mumbling.

Oddly, the crowd settled. As if Gaston was the sidetrack they needed to realize panic-inducing news isn't dealt best with panic. As Tortimer grew antsy, Pelly poured him another glass of water. He chugged it and continued.

"What was I saying..? Oh, yes. Thomas is very sick and he is in the recovery centre in Shrunk's clinic! I will have the, err, play-by-play of his health tests, and Shrunk has told me he may even perform surgery on Thomas. Everyone hope it goes well… Yes, onto other matters…"

The single sheet of paper on the podium Tortimer began to lift up and down frantically. His eyes burst from his glasses as he continued to do it fruitlessly, each rise and fall his face getting plastered with more and more sweat.

"Peeeeeeeelly!" he bellowed clutching his throat. "Peeeeeeeelly, the other memo has been misplaced… STOLEN! ROBBED! BAMBOOZELED!"

She bit her lip and rushed to his side. Calmly, she brought both his shaky arms down to the podium and flipped the single sheet of paper to the opposite side. The mayor's face loosened, the wrinkles on his face forming once again, easing into the contours.

"…Nookingtons will be closed until the fourth of, urrhumm, July! Thomas' nephews will be back from the clinic by then. Right now they're at the centre at their uncle's side."

Tortimer started to walk away from the podium, cane in hand. As Pelly assisted the mayor down the stage's steps, Copper rushed over to the microphone.

"That concludes our meeting everybody, go on about your business, and do not worry about Mr. Nook, he is in good hands! Good night to you all and may you have a safe summer's night!"

The villagers slowly dispersed from the plaza as the after effect of Nook's condition lingered, as well. I meant to go talk to Gaston, but I saw Lily and got sidetracked. Lily told me that when Shrunk's team came to pick up Nook, they gave her some prescribed painkillers and put a cast around her injury. She said she felt much better, but the team suggested she sleep a lot and also to remove the cast in a day or so. Saying farewell to Lily, I went on my search for Gaston.


	4. Chapter 4

Looking down to the museum, I heard the door of the town hall shut behind me. I thought Gaston might've gone inside. The only time he ever stepped foot in the building was to chew off any of the workers and complain about the town; the fact he seemed upset during the meeting only backed up the fact he might've been tussling with our mayor.

Peering around quickly, I didn't see him. Tortimer was in his office—in a drowsy position with his hands propping up his face—and Aurora was in the post office section trying to tolerate Phyllis.

"No, I did not say I wanted to mail a letter, Phyllis… I said I wanted to withdraw some Bells," Aurora spoke softly, fiddling her feet above the post office's mat.

"Can you stop messin' with my head? What do you want, tell me already?!" Phyllis screamed back.

"I just want to make a withdrawal… please." The 'please' was delicate, but oozing with fragile urgency.

Phyllis' neck strained forward, the veins bulging from it. "How much?! I don't have all day, c'mon, tell me already!"

"3500, please, that is all…" Aurora seemed near tears.

Phyllis slapped the bag of money onto the counter. "Your balance is one billion Bells! Aha-hah-aha!" She burst in cruel laughter. "Kidding, you'll NEVER be THAT rich, not even in your dreams!"

Aurora stormed past me and out the door. Phyllis stopped laughing. Instead, threw me a wicked glare, and asked me what I wanted. I told her that I was just looking for someone. After her usual haughty scoff, she turned from me and looked down at her lap—what ever she had there more important than what I might've had to say.

"Aurora!" I called once outside back onto the plaza, grabbing the penguin by the flipper. "What's the money for?"

She looked very startled and then quickly wiped the tears from her eyes, leaving pink-ish red skin irritation. "Oh… I heard that Saharah, the famous carpet saleswomen, is coming to town tomorrow. I just got some money so I could trade in my ragged carpet for a brand new one… I've been wanting a revamp for a while now…"

I smiled at her. "Oh, that's awesome! You haven't seen Gaston around town by any chance… have you, Aurora?"

"He went straight to his house after the meeting, I think so, anyway."

After some more semi-forced small talk with Aurora, I made my way back up to Gaston's place. Sure enough he was inside, finishing off the last crumbs of baklava which we had eaten before hand.

Gaston had his face stuffed with the food, and when he saw me, he hid the plate behind his back; crumbs flying from the plate and others lost their grip to his face and sprinkled on his lap.

"Oh… Tiny, what are you doing here?" he said as if innocent, his voice muffled and incoherent from the chunks in his mouth. Large saliva-coated crumbs flew from his smacking lips.

"It's alright Gaston, I do not want anymore of your baklava."

"Oh… OK, good!" he smiled meekly. "'Cuz you weren't getting in more, anyway!"

Bringing my hand over my eyes and pretending to fix my hair, I rolled my eyes. He hated when I got sarcastic, or as he called it 'lippy' with him, so all my attitude I would conceal. "So, why were you late to the mayor's meeting?"

Gaston began to talk, but I couldn't understand a thing he said because of all the food pilled into his mouth. I waited, and eventually he tried again.

"Well, I was on my way down to that rusty coot's 'urgent' meeting. On my way out the door that talisman began to flash bright yellow. So I went back in my house, and there was a jewel on it, a jewel I never noticed before. There was a carving of some sort of bug and the yellow jewel was supposed to be its butt or something."

"You mean abdomen? It's not their butt. Lemme see the talisman."

"Pfft, butt, abdomen, same thing," he scoffed and dropped the thing into my hand, crudely shoveling the final remnants of the baklava past his lips.

I looked at the jewel and it was shining brightly—bad enough it panged to look into it for too long. But, Gaston was onto something. The jewel was the abdomen of some sort of insect, my guess was a firefly.

Brushing the talisman off as nothing, I stayed at Gaston's and the two of us just hung out.

*

Afterwards, Gaston, Kabuki, and I walked down to Bob's house. Every few nights we go down and have a game of cards, usually poker or black jack. Bob was pro at poker, to our surprise, and Gaston was usually the first out. He didn't take losing lightly, always getting cynical and snappy after folding first game. We played until the wee hours of the night, and somehow, I ended up back in my bed, away completely from all thoughts of the mysterious talisman.

**Later Next Morning…**

I awoke abruptly from a dream.

Tap.

I lay in bed, not being able to go back to sleep.

Tap.

Running my fingers through my hair, I sighed heavily.

Tap.

Then, curious to know the time, I checked the alarm clock besides my bed.

Tap.

Its neon letters flashed _4:23 am_, too early to be up…

Tap.

I sat displayed a groggy grimace at the tapping noise which I wasn't sure was my imagination or not.

Tap.

It seemed there was continuous tapping and rattling which surfaced all around me. Never coming from the origin, the obscure tapping would interrupt my every thought.

I then noticed it was oddly bright outside for 4 in the morning. I looked out my window, and I had to close my eyes, they weren't yet adjusted from the darkness of my bedroom. It couldn't have been the sun making it so bright, for I could see the town hall and it was still pitch dark around the building. After further examination, only my house was lit up. I slipped into my red bar shirt, then my shoes and then walked outside.

Slipping cautiously out my door, the amazing sight unfolded before my squinty eyes. Thousands of tiny fireflies surrounding my house. Latched onto my roof and siding, and many floating surreally in the pre-morning breeze like small balls of ectoplasm. Their tapping became louder and evident now, as did the drone of their wings.

"What the…?" I spoke, astonished. Never before had I seen so many fireflies in one place.

Suddenly, the illuminated bugs broke away from my house. First whipping throughout the air in a nauseous whir of light, they made a mid-air trail before me, as if thousands of North stars guiding me. The first in the row inches from my face, I drew my eyes along the twisting line and it seemed to lead near the beach. I caught on right away; it was almost like the bugs made a path for me to follow. There is no way they had the intelligence do something so elaborate, though, right?

I let the line of bugs guide me. Looping around trees, they went straight past the museum, past Aurora's house, and then past Agent S' house; all the while their eerie, florescent glows keeping the foreboding darkness at bay. Finally, the trail ceased at the beach. Stepping expectantly onto the sand, all the fireflies suddenly vanished. Their glow growing dimmer and dimmer as they faded into the night, blending with the stars.

They led me to where Gaston and I first found the note in a bottle, which contained the talisman and the ancient Animalese inscriptions. Plopping on the beach, I pulled off my shoes and socks, and dipped my feet in the ocean.

At first the water chilled my ankles, sending crooked goose bumps up my legs. But as I lay there, it warmed drastically. Beginning to run my foot along the shells and tender sand near the shore, my troubles seeped through my ears and my eyes batted gently in a lulling spell.

I sighed to myself; the kind of yawn which released the inner-stress. I then closed my eyes and put my head back, resting it gently in the cool sand. As the waves tickled my dry and unexpected upper legs, I felt myself drift to a deeply desired mindset.

First seeming like part of my imagination, there was a peculiar hissing sound. Ignoring it further, it heightened. There was more of it now—overlapping hisses, but both akin. Before I knew it, I felt something huge thud onto my stomach—instantaneously snapping me from my trance like a slap across the face.

I yelled and shot up; ocean spray greeting my grimacing face. Staring down at my chest, a Hercules beetle blinked blankly back up at me. Its mandibles were prying open and shut, and it was making a very intimidating growl noise. Without provocation, the beetle leapt at my face, springing suddenly from its still position with its wings spread from its back. Its dagger-like feet digging into my cheeks and its jelly-like underbelly rubbing against my mouth, it started ripping away at my skin—the two odd sensations disorienting me to the point of disability. Stumbling onto my back, I became useless as it plunged its mandibles continuously against my face. Thick liquid ran down into my mouth; realizing I was bleeding immensely I ripped the beetle from me. Staggering through the air, my attacker veered out toward the ocean. Another one latched onto my back, dropping from the sky. As it tore away at my shirt, shreds of stripy fabric decorated the air and fell back down like pre-doom confetti.

I hollered for help amidst my grunts of exertion. I continued, figuring Agent S or Kid Cat would here me—their houses being feet from the beach—but nothing. Reeling my arms in the air to stand up, I rose to my feet. Awkwardly slamming both clenched fists against my back furiously, I eventually shook off the beetle. They were relentless; again leaping at me, this time, knocking me into the salty ocean waters.

First splashing in the shallow end, a wave rocked against me and dragged me out above my head. The frigid water stinging then numbing my body, I flailed my legs but hit nothing—I was hundreds of feet above my head. Bobbing up and down violently in the water, I realized how faulty of a swimmer I was and having a ten pound beetle on your head certainly wasn't helpful.

One of them started in on my head now, furiously ripping out my hair, and biting my scalp. Every time I would thresh to get them off, my body would plummet into the icy drink.

Screaming was useless. No matter how hard I yelled, my agonizing cries were muffled by the waves. The waves started to pick up; one after another, after another they came crashing down upon me. Pounding me under the water every time in mid-breath, I would thrash to get back up but it would keep me under for seconds—the sheer cold engulfing my deadening limbs. Then when the sea would release me from its depths, gasping for air and gagging on salt water, the beetles would seize my head and continue uprooting my skull. The water stung my wounds viciously, with every dunk I would cringe and pray for this to be over. I screamed my last futile cry for help as a tyrannical wave forced me under. I was as good as dead.


	5. Chapter 5

The frigid waters blanketed me, my skin so numbed, my muscles so drained, that the sensation was burning. Gagging on water, struggling to cough it up—tears, blood and snot streaming down into my mouth—as a wave plunged me deep under, my lungs buckled. With a feeble gasp of exasperation, the pain was so unreal, like they had crumbled inside of me. Amongst my dying flails, as I managed to surface, the beetles ambushing me, something else dove into the icy water. Instinctively thinking it was a beetle, I thrashed to get away from it. It was not a beetle, but a hand—a furry paw. The hand's grip was powerful, and as it tightened around my shirt's collar, hauling me out, I knew its intention was not malignant.

The animal tossed me to the beachside, my limbs boneless flaps snapping and rolling around me as I tumbled to a wheezing heap. With saltwater and blood pouring down my face, I lay on the ground as my chest heaved thick gasps, snorting up stringy spit, water and snot onto myself. After sputtering severely, I opened my eyes to see an orange otter with a pair or scruffy overalls and beanie standing over me. His vibrant fur pressed against the bold palette painted into the morning sky made me squint in surrealism. His arms dripping with water, in each hand he held a Hercules beetle by their horn; neither was still living.

"Are you alright, maaan?" the stranger said to me with inquisitive eyes, standing completely still, not even blinking.

I coughed a few times as more unwanted saltwater tore through my throat and to the dirt around me. I thanked him so much for saving my life in between my haggard wheezes. I asked him his name.

"My name? Names do not matter; names are only labels, labels for society to judge and criticize us on. But, don't mention me saving you. It's the least I can do in this world," he spoke calmly, his voice benevolent in every meaning of the word.

"Ah, alright… well my name is Tiny."

"Tiny… Tiny… I like it, it sounds raaadical, maaan." He rocked his head back and forth rhythmically.

"Thanks… Are you sure you don't want to tell me your name so I can thank you properly?"

"It's against my way of living, but my momma named me Pascal. Pascal—errrr—I think my first name will serve you well for now…" His voice trailed as he turned to the ocean and tossed the carcasses of my attackers in the ocean. "Those beetles are nasty, maaan. Vile, little beasties."

"Well, I owe you my life, Pascal."

He turned plainly to face me again, his movements casual, as if he was not weighed down by a care in the world. "You do not owe me a thing. Favors are the thing that makes the world go round, that, and advice. I have some advice for you and everyone else in this town."

"Advice?"

"Sure thing, maaan. Advice. Well maybe not so much advice, an advisory… I hate to sound like those self-righteous prophets who sit in their big chairs in the big rooms in their big buildings in the big city, but I suppose that's why the waters took me here—to help save your village." He stuck out his sopping paw down to me.

I stuck mine back out and he hoisted me to my feet; though I was somewhat unsteady, my legs shuddered as I touched the dripping ground around me.

Quickly breaking out into his advice, he began to talk, giving me little time to recuperate. "There is a malevolent hex laid upon this little town, it was laid in spite, malice, and fury. I fear for your life as it will not stop until the town is in ruin, and until everyone in it has perished. Please, Mr. Tiny, heed my warning, take you, take all your friends, pack up all your things, and get the hell out of this cursed town, maaan. This is gonna sound cliché, I know, I am not one to conform, but please, before it is too late." While what he said was farfetched, his black, pearly eyes emitted utmost seriousness, but his voice never climaxed as would a normal person's.

I thought to myself that this guy is a total nut job. He belongs in the loony bin, he would be a real piece of work for even the likes of Dr. Shrunk to handle, but part of me took what he was saying to heart. I think my blank stare at the scallop necklace around his neck was an indication of my skepticism—I was not staring at the scallop itself, I just needed somewhere else to look, somewhere else to gaze until I fastened myself around his words, anywhere but his face and those inquisitive eyes.

"Do you need proof? Look. Look at what just happened to you. Do innocent, harmless little bugs usually attack, maaan? No way. I mean, those things are a brute of a beetle, but never have I seen them attack anything but a wee caterpillar or maybe each other—but that's just how they roll. It is not only you that is feeling the pain of the bugs; many of the other villagers feel it, too, but I don't think that they have the confidence to bring it up, to let their feelings flow from their lips," he paused awkwardly and gazed at the rising sun in the horizon, my squints suddenly growing with dazzling colors. "I have one more thing to say before I go, maaan. Before you flee the town, carry the amulet and smash the heart of it—that damnable talisman—smash it to pieces. Shatter it as ruthlessly as possible."

His round, black eyes blinked quickly then gazed at me, expecting an answer, a response, a comment, anything but my forlorn expression.

"Do you understand, Mr. Tiny?"

I nodded half-heartedly and returned the look at him.

"Alright, then. Well, I am off, may the next time I see you have a better aura about you."

I opened my mouth to speak, because it seemed this otter knew so much about our village, and he had only just arrived.

"Laaater, maaan," he called out, the loudest I had heard him so far.

I staggered toward him with my hand waving—the body symbol of 'WAIT!" But, it was no use. With this, Pascal did a flashy dive into the ocean and suddenly breast stroked out of sight; leaving only a mammoth splash which hit me weakly.

My face and back still pained brutally, and I clutched my head and accidently brushed a gash on it. I flinched and bit my lip, holding back a swear. Smearing the blood from around my mouth, I slowly made my way up to my house as the sun peeked up from around the ocean's bend.

I took an agonizing shower and cleaned myself of all the blood to the best of my abilities. Luckily, I stocked up on medicine before Nook's close. I popped back a painkiller and drifted off into a deep trance of a sleep.

I dreamt of Elm St, except it was desolate. The buildings were on fire and in ruin. There were dead bodies of animals and insects strewn everywhere; destruction had claimed our lovely, peaceful town. I had intentions of warning everybody of what Pascal the otter said when I awoke, I hoped they would listen.

**Later that morning… **

I yawned heavily, stretching my arms up over my bedpost, a quaking pain erupting down them and sinking into my chest. I winced and turn over to my side. The darkness of my room was pierced by a bright light—my clock. Prying my eyelids back opened, I realized it was almost time for Agent S' party. Frantically and haphazardly running about my room, I brushed my teeth, put on some fresh clothes, and picked up the gift with the Bull's Eye 4000 inside—it seemed heavier than before. Not thinking twice about it, I headed straight out the door, the winds of haste hurrying me along.

I looked at my mailbox. There was no mail inside, which was weird because Pete was usually diligent with his mail delivery, doing it at rigidly set times, I found he got my mail to me on the dot. I had an odd feeling suddenly hit me… the ground beneath me shook very, very slightly. Glancing around with a baffled grimace on my face, an agitated mole flew up from the ground outside my house; chunks of soil, rock and tile flying through the air and crashing around me; some of the debris striking me but most of it deflecting off my house.

His name was Resetti and he was the neighborhood grouch. Loathed by everyone, it must've been his life mission to be the most hated person in the whole village. It was working. No one had the tolerance to put up with his infernal, ridiculous rants and his self-righteous, hypocritical speeches which only accomplished you feeling like shit about yourself. He shot me a look of disgust, raised his pick ax and slammed it to the pavement, debris spraying me, stinging my tender flesh.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh… haaah, Tiny! You worthless little worm, what do you think you're doing?!" Resetti roared, his arms flailing about.

"Can you shut up and go away? I do not have time for you; there is a party I need to go to and I think I'm already late!" I shouted right back at him, the weight of the Bull's Eye 4000 shifting within the box.

"WHAAAAT?!?" he screeched, as the helmet atop his head slid disappointingly across his beady eyes, "Listen buddy, you are gonna MAKE time! What I have to say is important, porky, now sit your chubby self down and listen like the mindless toddler you are!" Resetti's face was red with rage and his teeth bore morbidly.

No one withered away at my patience like Resetti. I was never prone to outbursts, but I could not contain myself. "No one gives a shit about what you have to say! All you ever do is scream and patronize people for no reason; telling them how bad they are at their life!"

Resetti's eyes widened in shock.

My lips curled superciliously at his look of surprise. "Well, guess what? You are the one who is a failure at life! Everyone in this entire town hates you guts, for all we care, you could drop dead right now, and no one would even notice!"

His jaw dropped and he froze. Like time froze, too, it seemed as if the world shared mutually with the mole. But like always, he started swinging the pick around, and the veins in his forehead bulged bigger than I had ever seen. He started babbling on about how I need more self-discipline, and how someday everyone in town will learn to worship him. Eventually, his incoherent roars escalated into how he would teach everyone a lesson when they found out how right he was.

Tuned out and disrespected.

Swirling all the nastiest saliva I could muster, I spat on his face. So appalled, he tensed up as it slid down his cheek; the heavy strands trailing behind the watery ones. Before he got a chance to yell once again, I leaned off and then kicked him dead-on in the throat, on contact an ache rocketed up my leg, I had kicked him so hard I thought my leg would snap, but the pain was worth it.

His body rocketing backward in the hole, he smacked his face off the cobblestone outside my house before slipping into the depths of Elm St, down back into the hole he had lumbered out of. I heard his screams dissipate while he fell back into the ground, his rage oppressed to faintness. I peered down his hole; he looked like a grotesque, ugly lump of dirt, writhing amongst his proper home in a state of maddened fury. Again, he started in with threats—distant echoes skimmed my ears. I pushed all the dirt, rocks, and tile back into the hole and walked nonchalantly away down to Agent S' party.

*

"Haaaaaaaaah! HAAAAH! I cannot believe the nerve of that stupid kid! I am old enough to be changin' his stinkin' diapers, and he treats me like dirt! DIRT! Like the kind 'e knocked me down into now! Ohhhhh, when I get outta this stupid hole, I'mma whup him inta shape, he'll wish he never met MR. RESETTI!" the tempered mole yelled, echoing throughout the entwining maze of holes he had dug in his many trips.

"Now… to find my way outta this place and to Agent S'…" Resetti thought to himself aloud, the clarity of his voice making him jolt. He has been digging in these underground tunnels since he was a wee mole; he knew them better than wrinkles on the back of his hand.

He started to crawl through the tunnels, when he heard a chirping noise.

"Haaaaaah, stupid bugs, I hate those things! HAAAAAAAAAH!" Resetti bawled out. "They're always hybernatin' in MY space! I'll give them a could talkin' to WITH MY FISTS!"

The chirping noise grew closer now, it was getting closer rapidly, and there was more then one of the noise, too. As it approached, Resetti felt subtle rumbles all around him and dirt from the tunnel tops began to deteriorate like filthy rain, sprinkling his face, clotting his nose and caking his mouth.

"Haaah… HAAAAH! Do those puny bugs think they can beat me!? I'll eat 'em for breakfast, you hear me, BREAKFAST!" Resetti laughed and readied his pick ax.

The chirping was so close and so loud; it began to vibrate the tunnels blatantly. Resetti yelled shrilly and covered his ears—it pained him so hard he thought they would bleed. Not even he could hear his own voice now; it was drowned out at the nearing, unnerving screech of crickets.

As if bombs going off, solid walls of compressed dirt burst open around him—spitting dust and dirt everywhere. Out of them came a non-stop flow of mole crickets, the mole was outnumbered hopelessly.

Like before, Resetti froze, and his jaw dropped to the earthy floor. "ALL OF YOU GET OUT OF MY TUNNELS, YA HEAR?! GET OUT NOW!!" The pick axe fumbled in his gritty mitts, sweat seeping through his matted clothes.

The mole crickets started to swarm Resetti.

Bellowing and flailing, he managed to get about three off with every swing of his pick, but it was not nearly enough. Pinning him against the earth with an overwhelming force, the crickets entered Resetti at every possible spot. Scampering up his ears, squirming through his nose, writhing around his eyes, lunging down his throat—everywhere.

They tore away at his insides and fed off his organs. Females laid their eggs and they quickly hatched, then beginning to feast. As his anger suppressed to petrifaction and as his uproarious shouts diminished to mere grunts, Mr. Resetti was eaten inside out by the colony of mole crickets; his body a bloody host for eggs and a snack for the thousands. Resetti's howls were the last thing echoed throughout his tunnels, besides the sound of the crickets ripping away at his corpse.


	6. Chapter 6

Stepping up closely, I knocked on the door of Agent S' house. From the inside I could hear the song K.K. Crusin' blasting, rattling the windows and doors. Heeding the prelude of the barrage of sound I was about experience, I winced and braced my ears. It took a few good and loud knocks, but Agent S eventually opened up her door:

"Tiiiiiiny!" she yelled, and threw herself at me, the roars from the inside leaping with her and striking my body. "I thought you weren't gonna show up! It wouldn't have been a bash without you! Well, come in already! Gaston and Kid Cat are here, too!" she cried while pulling away from me.

Her house was strewn with an assortment of colored balloons which tumbled about the floor and streamers which were hung everywhere you looked.

In the back corner, Gaston was shoveling the chips and dip into his mouth conspicuously while tapping his foot to the song's beat. By Agent S' enormous stereo, Kid Cat was dancing to the music; spinning, jumping, punching and kicking wildly totally off the tempo of the song. As I stepped in further, Kid Cat leapt in my direction and threw his arm around me.

"Tiny, dude! I didn't know you were hooked up with an invite, too!" the cat yelled in my ear over the music, "That's totally AWESOME! Let's rock out to this wicked song together, alright?!"

Then, cart wheeling away from me, he resumed his dancing. I laughed at how absurd Kid Cat looked prancing about the room, but I didn't say anything. Kid Cat's boastful ego was easily shattered with the wrong comment.

"Agent S!" I said running up to her, "Agent S! Here's your gift!"

Her eyes bulged happily from her sockets and her expression was complete surprise; as if I was not going to bring a present at all.

She gave me another hug: "Ohhh, Tiiiiny, you shouldn't have!

"It's no problem," I said, smiling plainly.

"It's pretty heavy!" she cried while sinking her head to the box and shaking the gift, "I can't wait to open yours! Maybe I'll save it for last… anticipation, y'know?"

I nodded, and then I thought I heard a knock.

Agent S didn't realize. "I'll put it over here with the others," she called out while balancing it elegantly on top a pile of four festively decorated boxes.

There was another knock on the door; this time more impatient. She stumbled to the door and rushed to open it.

Standing haughtily with one hand on her hip and the other holding an open make-up compact, was Alli. At the exact same moment she snapped the compact close, K.K. Crusin' ended and the intense and dramatic Go K.K. Rider began to pump from Agent S' speakers.

Drawing the compact from her face and into her pocket, she cried: "Let's get the party started!" Alli burst into giddy laughter.

"Hiiiiiii, Alli! I am, like, SO happy you came!" Agent S giggled as the two girls embraced. "I totally thought you weren't coming!"

Once Alli stepped in, Agent S said bluntly: "So… uhh, do you have me a present?" Her smile was warm and grand.

Alli shot Agent S a condescending look and slammed the door. "Why would I ever waste my Bells on an animal like you?" sneered Alli, flicking her head through the air.

Agent S froze and her eyes bulged, her fluffy tail, which until this point was swaying, drooped.

"Oh, my god! Total joke! Of COURSE I got you something, Agent S! You're, like, my girl for life, so of course I'd hook you up with something fab-u-lous! "

Both the girls held hands, hugged, and started twirling around in circles; contrary to K.K. Rider's intensity.

Once Alli—the final guest—had arrived and handed over her gift, we all had a dance party. Once crowning Kid Cat the winner—after much loving ridicule from Alli—Agent S declared it was time to open the presents, turn off the music, and join her by the present table.

The entire time Agent S had a childish grin drawn across her face, the contours bubbly behind her visor. Kid Cat got her a new squat ball and Sgt. Brawny Buns' new turbo aerobics instructional video. The cat claimed both would buff up your six-pack majorly and he always used them after he pigs out. Alli got Agent S the three newest issue of the Ms. Nintenique magazine and some new lilac-scented perfume and a tube of maximum volumizer eyeliner. Gaston's gift was a vibrant bouquet of roses which he claimed to have grown himself; as Agent S practically bawled with happiness at the gift, the entire time Gaston's checks were a violent shade of pink and he would not look anyone in the eyes, his words not escape through the forest of moustache hair. Agent S' parents and siblings sent her some new clothes and lots and lots of Bells. Then, once all the others were opened, she took mine in two hands, saving it for last, just like she had said she would.

"OK, Tiny! Here is yours! Now, let's see what's inside!" she jovially exclaimed, again shaking the box and holding it by her eye. "Oooh! It's moving around on the inside! I wonder what you could've gotten me!"

"Moving? What? Why would it be moving?"

My queer tone escaping her ears, she eagerly ripped off the blue, polka-dotted wrapping paper. As the shredded paper settled to her floor, Agent S' grin was morphed to a disgusted grimace. She winced, screamed and whipped the box at her wall.

"What IS that in there?!" she bawled. "Tiny, why would you get me that!?"

I smiled first, thinking she was kidding. The solemn looks on the other animal's faces contorted mine. "What is wrong… there should be a—" I began, but was cut off.

Bursting out through the yellow wrapping paper stuffed inside was a massive Goliath beetle.

Agent S' eyes grew larger as it began to ascent.

It plopped to the center of the floor and started growling, snapping its mandibles together. The beetle's puny head whipped up and down, the stringy antennas hanging from it whirring crazily. Its thin and obsolete wings shot from its back and they flickered. Before Alli had time to gasp, it was up in the air again, hurtling toward the startled alligator.

Dropping to the floor, Agent S screamed and scrambled behind Gaston. Taking Alli by the hand, Gaston hauled her toward him and out of the harm of the insect. It hit the wall fumblingly and landed on its back. The insect started screeching and hissing, its wiry legs writhing with desperation but grasping nothing but air.

Gaston holding both whimpering girls, Kid Cat dashed to the rescue. Leaping at it, he raised his foot dramatically into the air, and then stamped on it over and over again. The unforgiving crunch of its torso under his heel and the innards which seeped around made me turn my head.

"Is everyone alright?!" Agent S yelled popping her head out from behind Gaston, still gripping the back of the rabbit's shirt tightly.

"No. Thanks to Kid Cat's corny superhero routine, I think I'll feel queasy for the next few hours." His voice was jeering yet it carried harshness toward Kid Cat.

Agent S eased her grip on Gaston. "Tiny! Why would you ever play a mean trick on me like that? Especially on my birthday—I'm the birthday girl! My poor, little heart can't take that kinda stuff!" she bawled, her perfectly-combed tail now kerfuffled.

I first glanced at the remains of the beetle before talking. "Agent S… I am so, so sorry! I bought you the Bull's Eye 4000, the new slingshot model you were after! I do not know how that bug got inside… I will make it up to you, I promise!" I cried full-heartedly.

"It's alright my Tiny… you don't have to buy me something else…" she sighed, slapping her paws together once. "I am just happy you're here and everyone is alright!" Her smile re-emerged. "Now… how about we all play spin the bottle, huh? It'll be really fun! But, first, someone get that NASTY body thingy outta my house!"

Gaston scoffed as Kid Cat stood up gallantly; fists lying against his waist with his head cocked slightly to the side.

"I'll save you, damsel!" he cried jumping toward the dead body of the beetle.

"Kid Cat, knock it off and hurry up! I want to play the game!" Alli snarled somewhat jokingly.

Once Kid Cat squeamishly tossed the goliath beetle out the door, all of us sat in a small circle. Agent S brought the clear, glass bottle and positioned it in the center of our group.

"Now…" Agent S trailed off twisting her body to reach a small box behind her. "I wrote all the dares on slips of folded papers! Whoever it lands on gets to pick a dare and HAS to do it—no chickens allowed!" She smiled broadly and looked about the group for their agreement.

We all nodded, Gaston slightly wary.

"Who should go first…? Kid Cat! 'Cuz you're the man of the hour and my knight in SHINING amour!"—again, Gaston snorted—"You spin it… alrighty?"

Gaston's eyebrows lowered.

Before Kid Cat had a chance to give the bottle the initial spin, we heard a distressed voice over the PA, it was Pelly:

"_Attention… Can I – I have everyone's… attention – please. There has been… a tragedy, a mur – murder… please, everyone meet in the town hall plaza!_"

Pelly was choking back her tears. Whatever it was, it shook her up, and good. In the background of the announcement you could hear the frenzied commotion of the animals inside the town hall. Despite all Agent S' pleads and cries of concern and sudden sickness, we all hurried there. Ditching Agent S' party and our game of spin the bottle in the aftermath of the beetle's attack.


End file.
